From 8112515278f4d3db99180c08c3287053833ad6f8 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Chris Wanstrath <chris@ozmm.org>
Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2025 21:18:24 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] [ = ]

---
 src/compiler/compiler.ts            | 13 ++++++++++-
 src/compiler/tests/literals.test.ts | 36 ++++++++++++++---------------
 2 files changed, 30 insertions(+), 19 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/compiler/compiler.ts b/src/compiler/compiler.ts
index 7ce259f..4f8b15b 100644
--- a/src/compiler/compiler.ts
+++ b/src/compiler/compiler.ts
@@ -470,7 +470,18 @@ export class Compiler {
 
       case terms.Array: {
         const children = getAllChildren(node)
-        // todo: [ = ]
+
+        // We can easily parse [=] as an empty dict, but `[ = ]` is tougher.
+        // = can be a valid word, and also valid in words, so for now we cheat
+        // and check for arrays that look like `[ = ]` to interpret them as
+        // empty dicts
+        if (children.length === 1 && children[0].name === 'Word') {
+          const child = children[0]
+          if (input.slice(child.from, child.to) === '=') {
+            return [['MAKE_DICT', 0]]
+          }
+        }
+
         const instructions: ProgramItem[] = children.map((x) => this.#compileNode(x, input)).flat()
         instructions.push(['MAKE_ARRAY', children.length])
         return instructions
diff --git a/src/compiler/tests/literals.test.ts b/src/compiler/tests/literals.test.ts
index 5c93e2a..666a4b5 100644
--- a/src/compiler/tests/literals.test.ts
+++ b/src/compiler/tests/literals.test.ts
@@ -127,31 +127,31 @@ describe('dict literals', () => {
   test('empty dict', () => {
     expect('[=]').toEvaluateTo({})
     expect('[ = ]').toEvaluateTo({})
+  })
 
-    test('mixed types', () => {
-      expect("[a=1 b='two' c=three d=true e=null]").toEvaluateTo({
-        a: 1,
-        b: 'two',
-        c: 'three',
-        d: true,
-        e: null,
-      })
+  test('mixed types', () => {
+    expect("[a=1 b='two' c=three d=true e=null]").toEvaluateTo({
+      a: 1,
+      b: 'two',
+      c: 'three',
+      d: true,
+      e: null,
+    })
+  })
 
-      test('semicolons as separators', () => {
-        expect('[a=1; b=2; c=3]').toEvaluateTo({ a: 1, b: 2, c: 3 })
-      })
+  test('semicolons as separators', () => {
+    expect('[a=1; b=2; c=3]').toEvaluateTo({ a: 1, b: 2, c: 3 })
+  })
 
-      test('expressions in dicts', () => {
-        expect('[a=(1 + 2) b=(3 * 4)]').toEvaluateTo({ a: 3, b: 12 })
-      })
+  test('expressions in dicts', () => {
+    expect('[a=(1 + 2) b=(3 * 4)]').toEvaluateTo({ a: 3, b: 12 })
+  })
 
-      test('empty lines within dicts', () => {
-        expect(`[a=1
+  test('empty lines within dicts', () => {
+    expect(`[a=1
 
   b=2
 
   c=3]`).toEvaluateTo({ a: 1, b: 2, c: 3 })
-      })
-    })
   })
 })